My Personal 5 Point Success Blueprint for the next 12 months

But referring to the year makes this blog obsolete so let’s just call it the year ahead because the value of what I’m about to share will never change.

Can I suggest you start using this proven and foolproof plan for the next 12 months? I know it works because I use it with my coaching clients.

2016 was the first year I’ve ever offered personal 1 ON 1 coaching and I’ve learned a lot.

I’ve learned that following a formula works.

I’ve learned that people often say they’re going to do something then do the complete opposite. (I think that’s called being human)

I’ve learned that our lives can get ‘cluttered’ with non-productive, time-sucking distractions that service other people and not us.

And I’ve learned about the power of saying “no”

Right now, the coming 12 month window in your life is a handful of amazing opportunities. Question is… what will you do with yours?

You and I have the same number of minutes in the day as the world’s richest person or a crippled peasant begging on the streets of New Delhi.

I’m not saying the beggar can’t pull a Slumdog Millionaire and climb the ladder, but it’s a big ask.

So, I’m going to assume excuses of poverty and lack of opportunity are not things you would raise if we get to have a 1 ON 1 coaching call.

In more than 30 years in real estate, which includes managing a team, running a highly successful office, hiring, firing and living the dream, I believe the number one real estate career killer is spending time doing the wrong things.

So here are the things you need to focus on right now.

Here are the income-boosting actions you need to take and the decisions you need to make in the next 2 weeks because time is money. Literally.

Here’s my Personal 5 Point Success Blueprint for the year ahead

1. Build your tribe.

Check out this graphic I just built in Keynote.

We all know that listings lead to sales but what leads to listings?

Your tribe!

The bigger your tribe, the more listing presentations you will attend.

When Aaron Shiner had 1200 contacts in his database, he did around $50,000 a month in GCI.

When that number doubled, so did his GCI.

I can give you dozens of other examples that will tell us the same thing.

Okay you need to love and feed your tribe once you’ve attracted them but I’ll get to that in a sec.

If you dedicate the next 12 months to building your tribe like never before, you’ll experience your best ever year in real estate and I don’t care where you are, what your market is like, what your competition is like or even if other agents are offering 0% commission. Build and love your tribe and watch what happens.

80% of agents just don’t get this, which is why 80% struggle.

But 80% of agents also have crap marketing.

They have no dynamic and compelling point of difference.

They have no Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that sets them apart from their competition.

And they tend to copy what the other loser agents in their area are doing.

Real estate is a highly competitive industry and you need to know you’re competitive.

Here’s your first decision: Decide if you want to live with the 80% in struggle town or high on the hill with a pool and a hot tub.

Success is a collection of decisions and this, my friend, is your first.

2. Prioritize daily actions

Here are the 5 dollar productive actions the top agents stick to like chewing gum to hair:

Prospecting

Negotiating and signing up a buyer on a contract (or however you do it in your part of the planet)

Making a listing presentation to a potential seller

Doing an Open Home/s

Meeting with a vendor (face-to-face wherever possible) to get a price reduction where required.

In my time as a real estate agent, trainer, author, mentor and coach, nobody has ever disagreed with this list. So then why in the name of all that holy, do so many agents get stuck in the thick of thin things and avoid these 5 essential priorities?

Don’t they like money?

If you want more sales, make more calls.

Get a copy of my very best personal marketing ideas at RaysGreatestHits.com and use the tools to help you build your tribe and start doing the things that really matter.

When you invest in your tribe of contacts, they’ll invest in you and that’s where the magic happens.

Don’t dodge this task and rely on emails or letters, get on the phone and say hi.

Ask them what they need and how you can help.

Give them details of recent sales.

Call to give not to get.

3. Systemize

If McDonalds Restaurants can build a system that trains a 15 year old (who can’t make their bed) how to make a hamburger then surely, building a system to help you focus on the things you need to do on a daily basis can’t be that difficult.

So much of what we do in real estate is repetitive which makes it tailor made to systemize.

Each time you catch yourself doing something that’s NOT one of the 5 Dollar Productive actions listed under point 2, ask yourself what needs to happen.

If your real estate software sucks then change it.

If you aren’t quite ready to hire an assistant, then maybe my own personal VA (virtual Assistant) can help out. She’s based in Manila and bills me at US$6 an hour to do stuff I either shouldn’t or don’t want to do.

(Email me if you’d like her contact info)

The system is the solution, so set it up once and use it forever.

At Bestagents, our slogan is Systems, Software & Support. Our members (who come from every real estate brand by the way) get the best tools and concepts to help them prioritize and achieve results.

4. Set realistic goals and targets.

I’m a goals and targets guy and let me tell you why.

I’ve tried working without them and I’ve tried working with them and working with them wins every time.

I might not always reach the goal I’ve set, but at least I have a focus and a subconscious reminder of why the heck I’m doing what I do ever day.

I also believe in the mantra of what gets measured gets done.

The very best agents I have worked with really know their numbers and the numbers are important.

We divide our month by 4. So target ‘check’ dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th of each month.

Let’s say we’ve targeted 10 Listing presentations for the month. We know that by the 14th, or halfway through the month, we need to be at 5 presentations.

Using this formula is an easy metric to gauge performance and results.

Real estate is a game of cause and effect. We cause the right things to happen and enjoy the effect.

This year I worked with Brisbane agent, Kevin Young.

We set a goal of 40 listings. 10 more than the year before.

I wasn’t concerned about Kevin converting listings to sales because he’s got that covered. We simply focused on listings and set a plan to achieve a certain number of listing presentations to reach the goal. When we spoke last week, he was on 39. Oh so close!

I keep my personal goals laminated in the shower so that way, I get to review them each morning. If you think that sounds dumb, I don’t mind. I found a way that works for me. If it helps us reach our goals, does it really matter what it looks like?

5. Wherever you are, be there.

Real estate can be tricky.

I don’t live with the pain of daily regret but I do wish I had switched off my phone when I played with my kids at the park or at home.

I can still see the disappointment on my daughter’s face when my phone rang because she knew I was going to choose it over her.

I know many agents who would do it differently too if they had their time again and I believe we need to be careful.

We need to make this work for ourselves and not the other way round.

Every other professional I can think of, usually knocks off at 5pm on a Friday night.

But if you’re a real estate agent, Saturday is game day and many of us also work Sunday.

I missed too many birthday parties and school plays. I missed too many take-dad-to-school-days and parent teacher interviews.

I was so addicted to ‘being available’ when I didn’t have to be.

If I missed a listing or sale because I couldn’t pick up and answer a call then so what? I can’t put a price on being with my family and nobody should. Prioritize.

The cruel flipside of this is being at work and thinking about home.

So take the advice of a guy who’s been around the block with this: Wherever you are, be there.

It’s less stressful and way more fun.

Block time out for the important things in your life and let nothing get in the way.

How can I help?

If you’d like to tap into my knowledge and ideas on all things real estate then awesome. That’s what I do!

I know there are not too many problems that can’t be solved with a few extra sales each month so use this link below to let me know what’s going on.